Gone? Girl (A Sherlock-BBC x Gone Girl fanfiction)

Prologue

"What do you have for me, John?"

John Watson looked up at his flatmate. There's been a rather low demand for his skills these days; most cases under Lestrade's wing are far too boring and mundane to him (so he says). His boredom shows; his hair a messy tangle, his clothes a wrinkly mess. He made the effort to buy a dartboard for Sherlock in order to occupy him. It bored him. Earlier this day, John came home to Sherlock throwing non-dart stuff at the board -- knives, cutters, stationery. "This is an experiment, John." He excused. "I'd like to see if using innocent items as an improvised throwing weapon will prove to be fatal."

"On a dartboard?"

Sherlock took a sharpener and sharpened the pencil he's holding to his likeness. "Compromise, John." He said. He then threw the pencil towards the board as if it were a knife. The lead cracked from the impact, and so it fell on the floor with a thud. "Compromise."

John averted his gaze back at his laptop. He was currently reading about a missing person case -- not just any individual, it happened to be a high profile woman who suddenly disappeared on the morning of her 5th wedding anniversary. "Have you stumbled upon those Amazing Amy books?" He knows it is ridiculous to ask Sherlock such thing; his childhood probably never revolved around such children's book.

"Those silly children stories with quizzes near the end?" Sherlock prompted. He stared at him, surprised he knows about the quizzes. "I never read any of it, but it was the talk of the town a few years back."

John nodded and gestured at his laptop. Sherlock leaned beside him to read the article. "The real life Amy is missing."

The article speaks of Amy Elliot Dunne, who went missing on her anniversary. She was apparently loved in her neighbourhood; there are statements from people who apparently knew her. One even claimed Amy is being abused by her husband, Lance Nicholas Dunne. The circumstances of her disappearance are weird to John. The article claims that the struggle in the couple's home's living room is staged, and that there are traces of blood found in the kitchen. Mrs. Dunne was apparently pregnant. The husband has no alibi, nor was he aware of the fact that her wife is pregnant. A bar he owns in the place apparently is bought using her wife's money.

"Are there pictures?"

John nodded. He scrolled upwards and clicked at the first picture on the article, which is that of Amy. Sherlock said nothing. He then went on the photo of the crime scene. He felt Sherlock twitch with excitement beside him. "Looks staged." He muttered. "Not because it covers up murder, nor does it present an angle of homicide. No. Definitely staged for something."

John stared at Sherlock, who now has his eyes glued on the screen. "Why'd you say that?"

Sherlock pointed at the floor of the living room. "See how there isn't any sign of mud or soil on the floor?"

"They probably cleaned the dirt." John shrugged and quickly added, knowing how stupidly against police procedures his suggestion was, "Because it's from the husband or the police's shoes."

"The crime scene set up will be different, then." Sherlock countered. "Is this source reliable?" John nodded.

"Then I assume that since it's reliable," Sherlock starts talking faster now. "All the information in this article is all there is as of the moment, no add-ins, nothing missing. Last I checked, there wasn't any mention of particular procedure that involves shoe sole checking." Sherlock nodded to himself, obviously pleased.

He made a solid point. The police procedure as described in the article is as detailed as it can be.

"Show me the other pictures."

John clicked. The husband's face came next. It was taken from a press conference one, two days after the incident. He looks villainous, John can say that much. He's good looking, but he looks like he wants to mess with everybody's lives. He was smiling at the camera, while the two people beside him, which he assumed to be Amy's parents, has the shock painted all over their faces.

"The smile looks forced." Sherlock commented. "He looks like he freezes every time a camera is being held right at his face. See how tense he looks at his shoulders, at his hands?"

John stared, trying his best to comprehend. The parts look tense indeed, but it means a lot of things to him. Only Sherlock can deduce such thing from one look at a picture.

Sherlock shuffled beside him. He went and grab his coat. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to see if there's ample digits in my bank account."